Westmont College Athletics

By Ron Smith
January 10, 2019
 
(SANTA BARBARA, Calif.) Westmont Track is scheduled to be the site of a unique event that will honor Westmont alumnus Dave Thoreson ('63). Santa Barbara Track Club, which trains on campus, will host the Thoreson 30-Minute Decathlon and Youth Triple this coming Saturday, January 12, beginning at 10:00 a.m.
 
The event is free to spectators and participants, thanks to the support of the John Warkentin family of Santa Barbara.
 
Headlining the event will be Curtis Beach, a Duke University graduate and the 2012 NCAA champion in the men's indoor heptathlon, and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo alumnae Sharon Day-Monroe, a two-time Olympian, three-time US champion in the women's heptathlon and four-time US champion in the women's indoor pentathlon.
 
Former Westmont athletes Anthony Cota, Brett Shagena and Travis Smelley will also compete in the event.
 
Thoreson was a national class decathlete who won the bronze medal at the 1967 Pan American Games in Winnipeg, Canada, scoring 7,295 points. Thoreson finished second to Bill Toomey at the 1967 US championships.
 
While at Westmont, Thoreson tallied his best collegiate decathlon mark of 6,824 while competing at Mt. SAC on the last two days of June in the 1962 AAU National Championship.
 
Thoreson earned NAIA All-American honors in the high jump in both 1962 and 1963. On March 9, 1963, he cleared 6-9, establishing a new Westmont record that stood until Ron Coleman cleared 6-10.25 on May of 1971.
 
In addition to the decathlon, Thoreson held the Westmont record in the triple jump, posting a mark of 46-8.75 on March 30, 1963. The record stood until April of 1964 when it was eclipsed by Larry Rice (47-2.75).
 
While a teacher at Santa Barbara's La Colina Junior High School, Thoreson created the 30-minute decathlon in which contestants compete in all ten decathlon events in order. The catch is that the final event, the 1500 meter run, must start no more than 30 minutes after the start of the first event, the 100 meter dash.
 
The multi-event community quickly embraced Thoreson's creation and the inventor claimed the world record of 6,233 points. His creation of the event, and subsequent world record, led to an often used saying about Thoreson that, "If he couldn't win at one game, he'd invent a new one." Thoreson held the record until 1974 when Inge Hermansson of Sweden took it away.
 
Warkentin, the 1970 US decathlon champion, tried his hand at the event in August of 1974 and became the new world record holder at 6,747 points. Warkentin said of the event, "We had about 10 spectators, and after it was over, everyone agreed it was one of the most exciting events they had witnessed, including myself."
 
Six weeks later, World University Games decathlon champion Josep "Sepp" Zeilbauer of Austria competed in the event that was aired on Austrian television. Zeilbauer took over the world record with a mark of 6,854 points.
 
As a physical education teacher at La Colina, Thoreson is fondly remembered for his work with youth fitness, his enthusiasm, his humor and his zany approach to life circumstances. He created the Thoreson Fitness Obstacle Course which was set up at several schools in the Santa Barbara area.
 
Following the 30-minute decathlon, a three-event Youth Triple will begin at 11:00 a.m. Those interested in participating can RSVP on the events website at https://www.santabarbaratc.com/sbtcevents/thoreson-30.